1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering wheel provided with a horn switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional steering wheel is described, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-11748. The steering wheel is provided with a horn switch mechanism in a side of a steering wheel body close to the occupant and supports an air bag apparatus through the horn switch mechanism. Further the horn switch mechanism includes a fixed contact provided in a side close to the steering wheel body and a pair of horn plates having a movable contact provided in such a manner as to oppose the fixed contact. Each of the horn plates is mounted to the steering wheel body by a pair of bolts or screws and spring bodies in such a manner as to resiliently move forward and backward. The steering wheel is structured such that the movable contact is brought into contact with the fixed contact by pressing the air bag apparatus so as to close the horn switch, thereby sounding the horn.
In the structure of the related art, however, since the horn switch mechanism has a plurality of horn plates, a large number of bolts for mounting these horn plates and the like are needed. The number of parts is high and a complex assembling operation is required, making it difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost.
Further, the structure described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-207780 is known. In this structure, a bridge is an engaging member for connecting core metals of a spoke portion of a steering wheel body to each other which presses a bracket for supporting a pad and has a pin projecting from the bridge and inserted into a hole formed in the bracket so as to position the bracket.
In the structure described in the latter disclosure, however, manufacturing costs are too high. The bridge for connecting the core metals of the spoke to each other, with the pin projecting from the bridge position, must support the bracket. Further, the pad body air bag apparatus is supported by the bridge. In order to securely fix the pad body, it is necessary to improve the strength of a member constituting the bridge so that there is a problem in trying to reduce the manufacturing cost.